How to create a High Key Photography Effect in Photoshop

Naturally, High Key portraits should be done with a studio lighting and it is good to have at least three light sources, plus reflectors. Photographer for a purpose overexposing most of the objects in a scene, making them look just pure white. Very few shadows can be left on a model’s face.

However, with the mister PhotoShop in charge, we can have the same effect on a regular, normally exposed image. Below I’ll show you how to do
a pseudo High Key photography using Photoshop.

High key portrait created in Photoshop

The original image:

Original portrait Image

1 step

Desaturate imageif you like black and white photography:

Image–Adjustment–Desaturate

I like to desaturate it, but not completely, leaving some color:

Image–Adjustment–Hue/Saturation

Adjustment in Photoshop - Hue/Saturation

2 step

Apply unsharp mask:

Filter–Sharping–Unsharp Mask

Using unsharp mask in photoshop

3 step

Make light areas on the image more lighter and dark areas darker using levels.
Play with sliders (do not copy mine) , you’ll you have a different image: